


Everybody Hurts

by WandaRavenBlack



Series: Road to Crisis on Infinite Earths [5]
Category: DCU, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fear, Hurt/Comfort, Panic, Past Rape/Non-con, Protective Jason Todd, Protective Slade Wilson, Rape Aftermath, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:48:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21946108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WandaRavenBlack/pseuds/WandaRavenBlack
Summary: EARTH 59When a new threat arrives, the heroes must team up with some villains. During the first meeting, Dick is paired up with Tarantula. He starts panicking when, to everyone's surprise, Slade steps in.
Relationships: Catalina Flores/Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson & Slade Wilson
Series: Road to Crisis on Infinite Earths [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1751014
Comments: 26
Kudos: 663





	Everybody Hurts

Dick was worried to say the least. Some bigger entity had appeared and posed a threat to everyone. Bruce had contacted him and told him to get to the Hall of Justice. The Justice League had decided to team up with all the smaller teams as well as some villains and criminals that understood that they needed to help out if they wanted to survive. He knew that Jason would be there. Artemis had said that her father would show up. Damian hadn’t been exactly clear on it, but there was a chance that Ra’s and Talia would help them. Selina had agreed as well. He took a deep breath and walked into the meeting room. The League was already there. Jason was standing in the corner with Tim and Roy. Damian was next to Bruce. Wally and Artemis were talking with Cyborg and Beast Boy. Dick smiled when he noticed two of the Titans. He continued looking around the room, and froze when he noticed Tarantula and Talia talking in the corner. The woman looked up and a smirk appeared on her face. She stood up, and Dick felt panic. What would she do? Would she tell them? Out of the corner of his eye he saw a familiar orange and quickly turned there. Slade was sitting at the table with all the other villains, watching him with curiosity. Wintergreen was sitting on his right side, the side where he was missing his eye. Slade just looked at him for a few seconds, before whispering something to Wintergreen. The man nodded and moved to the next chair, leaving the one next to Slade empty. Understanding, Dick quickly headed towards him, his sudden movement catching the attention of everyone in the room. Ignoring the looks he got, he sank down onto the chair next to the mercenary, a few people frowning when they noticed that Slade trusted him enough to let him stay on his blind side. Tarantula hesitated when she saw Deathstroke’s glare and, with one last look at Dick, she went back to her seat next to Talia. Clark glanced over to Bruce, but his face was expressionless as always. Cyborg and Beast Boy exchanged worried looks. Diana, feeling the tension in the room, started talking. 

“We wanted to thank you all for coming here so fast. We have a plan and…” 

Dick filtered her voice out. He knew the overall plan from Bruce, so he didn’t need this. Instead, he started thinking about everything that had happened. No one knew about him and Tarantula. And no one was supposed to know. As the meeting went on, he felt himself calming down a bit. There was no chance that Tarantula would try anything with Slade next to him. She wasn’t that stupid. It was pretty funny. After everything Slade had done to him, he still felt safe with him. He wondered what it said about him. That he went to Slade instead of Bruce. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Bruce’s voice. 

“We have put you in teams, taking into consideration your fighting styles and abilities.” 

He rabbled up a few teams and Dick was getting more and more tense. He thought he would be in the same team as Jason and Damian. Or maybe with Cyborg and Beast Boy. But his name wasn’t mentioned until almost at the end. 

“Nightwing and Tarantula. You two have worked together before and will be on stealth mode. You…” 

“No.” 

Dick was stopped in the middle of freaking out by Slade’s calm voice. Bruce glared at the mercenary. 

“What do you mean by that?” 

Slade smiled. 

“I meant no. He’s working with me.” 

Cyborg and Beast Boy both started protesting at that, but stopped when Bruce spoke up again. 

“It’s already been decided. We need you to take as much fire onto yourself as possible. With your healing factor, you, Superman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman will take the main attack.” 

Slade tilted his head. 

“You really think I’m stupid, right?” 

He stood up and Dick tensed. The man must’ve noticed it, because he put his hand on the backrest of Dick’s chair. Dick relaxed slightly, something that he was sure Bruce noticed. But he couldn’t help it. Slade was the only thing standing between him and Tarantula. 

“You’re all hoping that I will get killed in the attack. But it won’t be that easy. The gem you need to make your weapon working. Me and Nightwing will get it for you.” 

Bruce shook his head. 

“No. He is not going anywhere with you.” 

“And why is that?” 

“Because I don’t trust you.” 

Slade smiled again, amusement clear on his face. 

“And what about what he thinks? Aren’t you going to ask him?” 

Bruce glared. 

“No. It’s decided.” 

The mercenary nodded slightly. 

“In that case, I’m out. We’re leaving.” 

He headed towards the door, Wintergreen following him immediately. Dick tensed up. Slade was leaving. He was leaving him alone. He noticed the grin appearing on Tarantula’s face and felt his hands shaking. Slade stopped at the door and turned back to him. 

“You coming?” 

Dick hesitated. If he went with the mercenary, he would get away from Tarantula. He knew that pairing them up would be disastrous. He wouldn’t be able to concentrate. He would be distracted all the time. He would get them both killed. And if she tried anything… He wasn’t sure how he would react. But if he left with Slade, he would be leaving his family. He would be a traitor. They would all hate him. 

“I…” 

Dinah, who had been watching everything from the beginning, now spoke up. 

“Wait. Nightwing. Is there something you need to tell us?” 

Dick shook his head quickly. 

“No.” 

“Are you sure?” 

He felt everyone’s eyes on him and his hands started shaking even more. What if she told them? What if they thought he was dirty? That he wasn’t worth of being a hero. That he was a disappointment. Before he could calm himself down, Jason suddenly pulled his gun out. 

“You.” 

Everyone stilled when he pointed the gun at Tarantula. Dick frowned. Why was Jason turning against her? How did he figure out that she was the problem? The woman frowned. 

“Yes?” 

“What did you do to my brother?” 

She smiled. 

“Nothing he didn’t want. He didn’t exactly put up that much fight.” 

Selina’s eyes widened and she flew up to her feet, but was stopped by Tim’s hand. He was looking at Dick, who was shaking even more. With slow steps, Slade walked back to him and put his hand on his shoulder. 

“Little Bird. Look at me.” 

His voice was calm, but that didn’t fool Dick. Slade was most dangerous when he was calm. He looked up at him and noticed that the man had pure hate and rage in his eye. 

“Go outside and wait for me.” 

There was a finality in his words and Dick found himself obeying the order before he even understood what was happening. He walked out to the hallway and flopped down on one of the chairs there. He didn’t know what to do anymore. His career as a hero was over. Everyone would hate him. Everyone would think he was weak. His hands felt heavy when he lifted them to his face and pulled his mask off. It was over. He put it on the seat next to him, stood up and headed towards the elevator. He had some extra clothes down in the changing room. He would leave as Dick Grayson. He wasn’t worth being Nightwing. Halfway to the elevator, the door behind him opened and Slade’s voice stopped him. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” 

Dick turned to him. 

“I can’t stay here.” 

“Why not?” 

He started feeling irritation. 

“As if they would want me back now.” 

Slade sighed and pointed at the chairs again. After a few seconds of hesitation, Dick sat down again. Slade crouched down in front of him and Dick noticed that this was not only to put them on the same level. If he wanted to get up, he would have to go through Slade. 

“Tarantula told them what happened. At least her version. Now I want you to tell me yours.” 

Dick glared at him. 

“What does it matter?” 

“Because I don’t trust her.” 

“And you trust me?” 

The mercenary rolled his eye. 

“You know where most of my safehouses are. You were trained by me. You know about my past.” 

“Point made. But I still don’t understand.” 

Slade sighed heavily. 

“Listen to me, Little Bird. You’ve spent much time with me. Both when you were younger and when you were older. You have seen me doing some very horrible things. Have you ever seen me rape anyone?” 

Dick shook his head. 

“Exactly. And if even I didn’t do it, what does it mean?” 

“But this is different.” 

“How? How is this different from, for example, me going out and raping Catwoman?” 

Dick’s head fell forwards, his long hair covering his face. Slade put his hand on Dick’s chin and forced his head up again. 

“Answer me.” 

His voice was hard and Dick found himself talking, the need to obey Slade’s orders deeply ingrained in him. It was what had kept him away from beatings when he was younger and it was still hard to not do it. 

“I’m a man. I should have been able to stop her. But I just let her do it.” 

“So, let me get this straight. It’s not fine to rape women, but it’s right to rape men. Because women are weak and are unable to fight back, right?” 

Dick’s eyes widened. 

“No! They aren’t. Just look at my sisters. At Artemis and Catwoman. Women aren’t weak. And they know how to fight.” 

“Then how is it different?” 

Dick opened his mouth to answer, but stopped himself. Everything he had been thinking about suddenly didn’t make sense. But he could have fought back. 

“I… I couldn’t stop her.” 

“How did you two get in that situation?” 

“She shot Blockbuster in front of me. I should have stopped her. But I just froze. And then she was on top of me and I couldn’t move. I… I couldn’t do anything.” 

He felt tears appearing in his eyes and forced himself to hold them back. He didn’t want to show any weakness to the mercenary. 

“Little Bird. Listen to me. Nothing of what happened was your fault. The only one at fault for this is Tarantula. She used you. She did something unforgivable. I was not your fault.” 

“But… B will…” 

“No. Don’t you dare. If he blames you for it, then there is something very wrong with him.” 

Dick turned his face down, but Slade forced him to look up again. 

“Don’t turn away. Now, put your mask on and come with me. I won’t let her anywhere near you.” 

“Why are you being nice?” 

The man frowned slightly. 

“That shouldn’t concern you right now. Let’s go. Before your brother decides to come out here and kill me.” 

A small smile appeared on Dick’s face. 

“Which one?” 

“Both. Although I wouldn’t put it past the Red Bird and one of your sisters to try killing me either.” 

Dick put on his mask again and followed Slade. He still wasn’t sure about how to see what had happened, but he understood what Slade meant. They walked into the room together and Dick felt shock when he noticed that Tarantula was sitting in a corner, her hands bound and her nose bleeding. Selina and Jason were standing on the other side of the room, the woman’s knuckles bloody. Jason was still holding his gun, ready to shoot if he saw anything that he classed as a threat. Bruce looked over to them, but didn’t say anything. Instead, Diana started talking. 

“Right. Nightwing and Deathstroke will take care of the gem. The rest of you…” 

Once again, Dick filtered her out as he followed Slade to their seats. He saw Cass and Damian staring at him with worry on their faces and smiled at them. They would be okey. All of them. Next to him, Slade kept a close eye on the young man. He still remembered the little boy who had been fighting him years earlier. Through all of his tortures, the boy never broke. Until now. Tarantula had broken his bird, and she was going to pay for it. After all, no one hurt Deathstroke’s children without dying a painful death shortly after. He saw Wayne glaring at him and just smirked. He suspected that the Bat knew. And that was what made Dick trusting him even better. His eyes fell on Tarantula and he felt rage again. He would have to make sure she suffered before dying. And he was more than certain that Red Hood would help him out with that. He just needed to make sure Dick didn’t try to stop them. Catalina Flores would pay for what she did. He would make sure of that.


End file.
